Solidarity as a phenomenon lies like an erratic block in the midst of the moral landscape of our age. Until now, the geologists familiar with this landscape - ethicists and moral theorists - have taken it for granted, have circumnavigated it! in any case, they have been incapable of moving it. In the present volume, scientists from diverse disciplines discuss and examine the concept of solidarity, its history, its scope and its limits.

Sanctity of life' and human dignity' are two bioethical concepts that play an important role in bioethical discussions. Despite their separate history and content, they have similar functions in these discussions. In many cases they are used to bring a difficult or controversial debate to an end. They serve as unquestionable cornerstones of morality, as rocks able to weather the storms of moral pluralism. This book provides the reader with analyses of these two concepts from different philosophical, professional and cultural points of view. Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity presents a comparative analysis of both concepts.

Books do not come about by accident. This is especially the case when a volume grows out of a conference for which the participants wrote the original contributions in different languages. This volume descends from a conference held at the Zentrumjiir interdiszipliniire Forschung, University of Bielefeld, Germany, October 4 through 6, 1990, under the title "Technische Eingriffe in die menschliche Reproduktion: Per- spektiven eines moralischen Konsenses". Many with great generosity helped to ensure that the conference was a success and that the papers presented grew into a book. We want in particular to acknowledge our deep gratitude to the Zentrumjiir interdiszipliniire Forschung for spon- soring this important conference, and to its director, Peter Weingart, for his important guidance and support. Our thanks are also due to all of the staff ofthe Zentrum. It is they who made the conference successful. We are also grateful to Prof. Hilmar Stolte, head of the Institut jiir System- und Technologieanalysen in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, for making available additional financial support for the conference. Our thanks are also owed to the participants who inspired us to transform a collection of papers into a completed volume. The general trans- formation of the original papers required translation. Here we must acknowledge the labors of Sarah L. Kirkby, who rendered many parts of the volume into English. Finally, we want to recognize the invaluable support given by the ecumenical teamwork of Kurt W.

Solidarity as a phenomenon lies like an erratic block in the midst of the moral landscape of our age. Until now, the geologists familiar with this landscape - ethicists and moral theorists - have taken it for granted, have circumnavigated it! in any case, they have been incapable of moving it. In the present volume, scientists from diverse disciplines discuss and examine the concept of solidarity, its history, its scope and its limits.